Pictures: Cork City Library celebrates 130th anniversary

THE 130th anniversary of Cork City Library was celebrated at City Hall on Friday night.

The Lord Mayor of Cork held a civic ceremony at the Council Chamber to honour Cork City Libraries’ staff on its landmark anniversary.

Up to 100 staff from across the city’s ten libraries heard from a former Cork City Libraries colleague, acclaimed Cork poet Thomas McCarthy, who spoke about the legacy of the Burning of Cork and its effects on the library.

UCC’s Mairead Mooney spoke about the first City Librarian, James Wilkinson, and the important work he did in the early years.

Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Deirdre Forde praised the role libraries play in communities.

 “Creativity and community are at the heart of our libraries, with Cork City Libraries doing phenomenal work to support emerging literary voices in the city through Cork World Book Festival and partnerships with literary organisations like the Munster Literature Centre, Cork’s monthly poetry event, Ó Bheal, the MA in Creative Writing at UCC and Live at the Library Music Sessions,” she said.

“I know library staff are particularly proud of the inclusion work that they do to ensure out-reach such as Library Link, the service for people who are housebound and in care homes, the Growing Imaginations Service for people with intellectual disabilities and a range of autism friendly services,” she said.

City Librarian, David O’Brien said libraries are spaces where ‘creativity’ and ‘curiosity’ are nourished and expressed. “Cork City Library on Grand Parade has been described as the ‘city’s intellectual engine room’ by Cork poet Theo Dorgan, but libraries are also spaces where creativity and curiosity in its many forms is fired, nourished, and expressed. For 130 years, Cork City Libraries sought to provide safe civic spaces with something for all ages and abilities,” Mr O’Brien said.

“Not only do we provide access to books, but we also offer public talks, meeting spaces, curated exhibitions and digital resources,” he added.

Cork City Libraries Historian in Residence, Alan Noonan, said the city’s libraries are a “holistic source of public engagement, rather than solely a repository for books and music, forging engagements with the public between writers, historians, and poets and the institutions of local government.”

These are the last years the Central Library will be in its current form on the Grand Parade as preparations begin soon for a new building situated nearby.